If Dad were alive today…….Entry for September 22, 2006

He would have been 74 today. He would still be living at 121 Whitman street…in his stubborness. He would be retired, healthy and comfortable. There would be photos covering the walls of his 12 children and all their grandkids. He would have photo albumns filled with all the places that he and mom went to: Europe…Germany…Ireland…and always Florida…his favorite retreat. Most of us would all go and visit him there at 121….and we would always find him in the backyard sitting in the sunroom that he had built…next to the large built-in pool and his tomatoe gardens.He would sit on the bamboo rocker that Bernadette bought him for his 70th birthday…..the sun in his eyes…Rebecca on his lap…telling stories. The Korean war and how he made staff sargeant….and how he almost died in the early 70’s from a rare stomach disorder…..how he almost lost his business in the 80’s from all the new malls…how he cried on 9/11….the Giants winning the Super Bowl in 1986…..how proud he is of Gregory for running the family business with his brother Glenn. We would always be welcome there over the years….our old rooms always ready…..his office upstairs in the middle room where he sent us emails. Still making sure we went to church every Sunday. On his 74th birthday today….Beverly would have come with her homemade cake…like she does every year…we would smother him in cards and ties…..and sit around that big old table like so many hundreds of birthdays before and sing “Happy Birthday”….and when the lights are turned on…we would all join in: “Daddy cuts the cake….Daddy cuts the cake….Hi Ho the dairy-Oh….Daddy cuts the cake……………………….”